Crash Bandicoot
by Mutitoon90
Summary: My version of the game with an OC in the story.
1. Chapter 1

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter One

"I can't believe this!" An excited young man exclaimed as he saw a small group of islands.

The boy was from a nightmare of a family; an evil family that was determined to taking over the world. The boy, in a way, was the 'black sheep', or more really the 'white sheep' of the family. He saw no enjoyment in harming others or doing evil deeds. His father and uncles, seeing that the boy was not even trying to be evil, send him to an academy of evil, where the only way to survive the school was to be evil, but the boy was smarter than most of the classmates and managed to keep himself from being turned evil.

Then, one day the headmistress planned to place the boy in a machine that would make him evil. Hearing this, the boy escaped by using his wits and plan. Once out of the academy, the school was after him, but the boy managed to elude his pursuers.

The boy's black hair nearly blended with the darkness as the wind blew on it. The white shirt and blue jeans was torn from weeks of running and dodging robots and the headmistress herself. The boy's tired black eyes glowed red out of excitement. After sixteen years of running from his family's desire to turn him evil, his freedom was right ahead of him.

* * *

Meanwhile, a little, yellow man with a large head was preparing to use his invention for a test.

"Doctor Cortex!"

The yell caused the little man, Cortex, to bump the back of his head on the opening of the machine.

"Brio!" Cortex yelled, while rubbing the sore part of his head.

Then, another man, who was slightly taller than Cortex entered the room.

"Y-y-yes?" The nervous man asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to yell in the castle, unless it's an emergency?" Cortex's black eyes glowed red with fury, and veins appeared around the 'N' on his forehead.

"But-but-but it is an-an-an emergency!" Brio replied, silencing Cortex, for a moment.

"What is it then!?" Cortex yelled at Brio.

"It-it-it's the bandicoot!" Brio said.

"What of the marsupial?" Cortex asked.

"He-he-he's resisting!" Brio responded.

"Then have the assistants zap him!" Cortex yelled.

Then, two robotic men entered the room, carrying an orange-red, human-like creature.

"Like that." Cortex said. Then, he turned to the 'men' and commanded that they place the creature on the very machine that he was working on. The 'men' obeyed and placed it on the machine.

"Nothing can stop me now!" Cortex grinned evilly, "Now, my army will be completed, and the bandicoot will be the commander!"

"Fat…chance." A weak, yet determined, voice announced.

Cortex's expression turned grim upon hearing the bandicoot's response to his plans.

"Crash Bandicoot! You will be the commander, whether you like it or not!"

Then, Cortex started the machine, which engulfed Crash with light.

For the three weeks since Crash was evolved, the bandicoot had been nothing but a pain to the madman. Crash did nothing evil, and to make things worse for Cortex, Crash was in love with another evolved bandicoot, Tawna. Cortex was determined to turn Crash evil as if it was the last thing he would do.

The machine stopped and released Crash.

"Perfect!" Cortex cried out in joy.

"Not so much!" Crash laughed at the little men.

Cortex became enraged and started chasing the defiant bandicoot. Crash laughed at Cortex, but his fun was cut short due to the fact that he accidentally jumped out of the window and to the stormy waters below.

* * *

The boy was on the island when he saw a storm.

"Good thing that I'm on an island already." The boy said to himself as the prepared for the storm.

He worked a bit, but once done, he was ready to sleep.

"Well, Nathan." The boy spoke to himself, "Tomorrow's a new day." Then, he fell asleep, unaware of how new the day was going to be.


	2. Chapter 2

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Two

It was the morning after the storm, and Nathan woke up from the sunrise's light. Nathan was one who never was awakened by a storm; to Nathan, a storm is more like a lullaby to him, which made him a little normal to his family.

"What to do now?" Nathan asked himself as he stood up and stretched himself, when he saw a fuzzy thing. It was orange-red, human-like, due to the part of the clothes it wore, and not moving.

Curious about the 'thing,' the boy inched his way to the thing. He was a quarter of a foot away from the 'thing,' when it started moving. Nathan took a step back and watched the 'thing' as it got up.

"What happened?" The 'thing' asked, not looking at the frightened Nathan, who saw the creature more harmless than not.

"Hi, there."

The creature turned and faced Nathan. Seeing that Nathan was seemingly harmless, the creature responded.

"Hi."

There was an awkward silence between Nathan and the creature.

"Okay…" Nathan started.

"Yeah." The creature agreed, scratching his head.

Then, Nathan started laughing a little.

"What?" The creature asked Nathan, confused about the human's behavior.

"We're just standing around." Nathan laughed out.

Seeing that the human was right, the creature started laughing as well.

"You're right." The creature said with a calm smile.

Nathan thought maybe it was a start and introduced himself.

"I'm Nathan."

The creature smiled and responded, "I'm Crash Bandicoot."

Nathan shook his head and said, "Sounds better than 'Nathan.'"

"I think you're right about that." Crash agreed as he started laughing again.

* * *

A few minutes later, the human, Nathan, and the mutated bandicoot, Crash, were talking to each other like they had been friends forever.

"So, everyone in your family has a name that starts with an 'N?' Crash asked.

"Yeah!" Nathan said, "Napoleon was my dad's name. Nixon was an uncle's. I also have an uncle Neo."

Crash stopped for a moment, realizing that Nathan might be talking about the still Neo Cortex that evolved him and tried to control him. The bandicoot took a good look at Nathan and saw that the boy was kinder and could not have the same personality as Neo Cortex.

"Crash?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah?" Crash asked back.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The bandicoot laughed a little.

Nathan knew that Crash was lying, but he was not going to start an argument over something that Crash is keeping to himself.

"Hey!" Crash yelled out to Nathan.

The boy looked back to see his friend holding something in his hands. Nathan takes a few steps to his friend and saw that Crash was holding a colorful mask.

"A mask? Here?" Nathan asked, curious about the object.

"Well, there are people on the island." An unknown voice stated.

The voice scared the two friends.

"Did you say something, Crash?" Nathan asked, hoping for a 'yes.'

"No." The bandicoot answered, just as hopeful that it was Nathan playing a trick.

"Well, it wasn't me." Nathan said nervously.

Then, the mask floated from Crash's hand and to Nathan's face.

"I am the one who spoke." The mask announced to the two friends.

"Who, or what, are you!?" Nathan screamed in pure shock.

"I am Aku-Aku, the guardian of the Wumpa Islands." The mask replied, with a kind grin.

"Oh!" Crash said.

Nathan started to introduce himself and Crash to the mask.

"Well, I'm…"

"I know who you two are." Aku-Aku said, "You are Nathan, and your friend is Crash."

"That's right." The bandicoot admitted to the mask.

"How did you know?" The boy asked Aku-Aku.

"I listen to everyone on the three islands." The mask grinned.

"And I'm guessing it's not a joke." Nathan said.

"You are correct." Aku-Aku confirmed.

Crash thought for a moment before he asked the colorful mask a question.

"Can you allow other people to hear with you?"

"Of course." Aku-Aku answered, "Do you have someone in mind?"

"Yeah, I do." The bandicoot said.

Then, the ancient mask flew to Crash's face.

"Just think of the person and you will see them." Aku-Aku instructed.

"Okay." Crash said, and started thinking of someone very dear to him: Tawna.

Crash started seeing an image. At first, it was blurry, but it started to clear until Crash saw a bandicoot with blonde hair, wearing a pink shirt, a blue short skirt, and pink shoes in a cage, crying. Crash felt horrible about leaving her behind, but he had to escape. Then, he heard Neo Cortex's voice, talking to Tawna.

"Well, my dear." Cortex's voice rang out with hidden intention in his voice, "It seems Crash was a complete failure at being a minion."

"Crash will stop you!" Tawna exclaimed at the doctor.

"Oh! Didn't I tell you?" Cortex said in a calm mocking tone, "Crash jumped out of a window."

"You're lying!" The she-bandicoot exclaimed.

"I'm afraid not."

Tawna was shocked by the news, but the worst has yet to come.

"And since Crash is gone, I'll have to check on the Cortex Vortex for any more mistakes. Once that's done guess who's going to be first."

Tawna stepped back in fright.

"You don't mean…?"

"I have to, if I need to Cortex Vortex tested." Cortex replied before he left.

The vision disappeared from Crash's sight, and Aku-Aku removed himself from Crash's face.

"That's terrible!" The mask exclaimed in shock.

"And that's being nice!" Crash agreed.

"What?" Nathan asked, confused at Crash's and Aku-Aku's reactions.

"We need to move now!" The bandicoot announced.

"I know where a boat is at." The mask said.

"What's going on?!" Nathan demanded.

"We'll tell ya soon!" Crash yelled in response.

Nathan shrugged his shoulders and started following the bandicoot and the mask, but something hit him on the back of the head, causing him to black out.


	3. Chapter 3

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Three

Nathan stirred from his unintended sleep.

"Where am I?" Nathan asked as his vision cleared.

As he looked around he did not like what he saw: spears, tribal people carrying large amounts of food, and an oversized chief who was walking towards Nathan.

"Uh oh." Nathan whispered as the giant of a man came in front of the boy.

The man carried a long and very decorated staff, which showed his authority in the tribe.

"What's going on here?" Nathan asked the large man, forgetting that the natives might not understand English.

The man that Nathan asked raised his staff and hit the ground with it, causing a strange tremor through out the tribe.

"What was that?" Nathan asked, more confused than before.

"That spell, so we understand each other." The big man answered.

"This is bad." Nathan whispered to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Crash and Aku-Aku were still going through the jungle, when the mask noticed someone was missing.

"Nathan is gone!" Aku-Aku shouted to the bandicoot.

Crash stopped in his tracks and turned around to see if it was true…

It was.

"Where did he go?" Crash asked, slightly not surprised at Nathan's disappearance.

Aku-Aku thought for a few moments before he had an answer for Crash.

"I may know, but you have to follow me."

"What?" The bandicoot asked the mask, "What about Tawna?"

"We will rescue her, but we need Nathan's help." Aku-Aku explained to the bandicoot.

Crash was upset about not being able to rescue Tawna so soon, but if Nathan was needed to rescue her, then he will rescue Nathan as well.

"Let's go!"

* * *

It took a few minutes to reach the village, but the bandicoot and the magic mask made and just in time to see the large fire.

"What's going on?" Crash asked Aku-Aku.

"Looks like a sacrifice." Aku-Aku answered, looking at the village for more clues of what was going on.

"A sacrifice?" The bandicoot asked.

"It's a living creature that is killed for a reason, like protecting the islands." The mask explained.

"Really?" Crash asked.

"Yes, and it looks like Nathan's the sacrifice!" Aku-Aku said, shocked by the sight of Nathan nearing the fire.

"Anything final words?" The chief asked the captured Nathan.

"Can we talk?" Nathan asked, hoping the chief would consider the idea, which did not happen.

As the chief was about to push Nathan into the fire, Crash ran to Nathan's rescue and pushed the large native away from Nathan.

"Crash! Man, it's so good to see you!" Nathan said in relief.

"Good to see you too." Crash said dryly as he started untying the boy.

"Who you, orange fur man?" The chief asked Crash.

Crash answered, "Me Crash, friend of Nathan."

The large man stood up and glared at bandicoot.

"Change of plan: you go to fire to save island."

"Uh oh." Crash said, seeing that he was in trouble.

With one swing of his staff, the chief managed to summon small versions of Crash and Nathan.

"Uh oh." Nathan said and started running with Crash.

The smaller versions of themselves followed the two around the whole village. The tribesmen were cheering at the sight.

"This…is…ridiculous!" Nathan said between breaths.

"You…can…say…that…again!" Crash agreed.

Then, the bandicoot stopped and spun around like a small orange tornado, which diminished all of the miniatures of the two allies.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Nathan said.

"Really?" Crash asked, confused by his friend's words.

"Yeah, Cra…Look out!" Nathan yelled, seeing the chief charging at them.

Crash looked and dodged the large man's attack.

"Nice try, big guy!" Crash taunted the chief, who swung his staff again.

"Missed." Nathan taunted as well as he dodged the staff.

"Me show you true power." The chief announced.

But he never did; while he was trying to power his staff for a strong attack, Crash and Nathan punched the giant native in the face, knocking him out cold.

"Great job!" Nathan congratulated Crash.

"You too!" Crash replied to Nathan.

Then the two remembered a very important detail: The man they defeated was the chief of the tribe.


	4. Chapter 4

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Four

The two had defeated the chief of the Papu tribe, but they had another problem: the rest of the tribe.

"Now would be a good time to leave." Nathan suggest to Crash.

"Good idea." Crash agreed.

Then, the two dashed off with the tribe after them. Crash and Nathan dodged from spears and traps when Nathan realized something.

"We're not going to make it out of the village alive!"

But Crash was, otherwise, positive.

"Yes, we are!"

"What are you talking about!?" Nathan yelled.

"Look!"

Nathan obeyed and looked. He saw two gruff, wild boars and became very appalled.

"You're joking!" The boy accused the bandicoot.

Crash did not answer and grabbed Nathan by the sleeve of the white shirt. Nathan felt horrible about the fact that he accused Crash very falsely and that he was about to ride a boar.

"Here we go!" The bandicoot announced as he threw Nathan to a boar.

Nathan landed on the wild, furry swine, which became very frantic and started running.

"Slow down!" The boy commanded the boar, which did not hear him.

"Hey!" Crash yelled, coming to Nathan's side, and having better control of the boar he was riding.

With some luck to Nathan, the boar dodged very trap and pit, which were set up by the natives long before Nathan and Crash came to the island.

* * *

After a while, both friends were free and far from the spears of the Papu tribe.

"Whew! That was too close!" Nathan said, thankfully for Crash's thinking as he freed the boar that he rode.

"Yeah!" Crash agreed as he also released the other boar.

Nathan looked around and saw that he and Crash were at a beach.

"Hey!"

Crash looked at Nathan and asked, "What?"

"We're at the beach!"

"And there is a boat to your right." Aku-Aku's voice rang to the duo's ears.

The two allies turned around and found Aku-Aku right behind them.

"Where have you been?!" Nathan demanded loudly.

"Yeah!" Crash agreed, "Where were you!?"

"I was behind you two reckless youths!" The color mask replied sternly.

Nathan and Crash did not believe the mask. Nathan stepped forward to the mask and voiced his and Crash's doubts.

"Prove it!"

"I do not need to, and neither do you two." Aku-Aku said in a calm, yet warning, voice.

The response confused the allies, but Crash soon realized what the mask meant.

"Tawna!"

"That's right!" The mask said.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked Crash.

"We will tell you as soon as we set sail." Aku-Aku announced.

Nathan looked at the boat and said, "And that comes after fixing the boat."

"Let's see." The bandicoot announced to the other two.

Crash ran to the boat with Nathan and Aku-Aku behind him. Once at the boat, the bandicoot examined the ship, and confirmed with the human.

"It's broken." The orange mammal announced.

"It's nothing I can't fix." Nathan announced, "But I'm going to need some help."

"With what?" Crash asked, very willing to help Nathan repair the ancient ship.

"Well, there's a list, but I'll do my best to make the tools to help with the repairs." The boy said.

Nathan sent an hour sharpening some rocks to use as tools, while Crash spent the time taking a nap. Aku-Aku was gone for that hour on another part of the island.

"It's hopeless!" Nathan yelled out loud, too tried to continue working on the tools.

* * *

Later that night, Nathan woke up to see a completed boat that could support more than two people.

"What happened?"

"I fixed the boat." Aku-Aku said, appearing in front of Nathan and a sleeping Crash.

"How?!" The boy asked.

"I found a boat on the other side of the island…" The mask explained when Nathan interrupted him.

"A boat!?"

"Yes, I am assuming the boat was yours." Aku-Aku said.

"Yeah." The boy confirmed, dumbfounded about his boat being used to repair an ancient boat by a colorful, magical mask.

"Do not worry." Aku-Aku said, "It was for a good cause."

Although very skeptical, Nathan thought about why pros and cons. Pros: The ship is fixed, it would last a little longer, and it can fit Crash and himself. Cons: The boat is gone, the time on the ship should be brief, and there would be no privacy.

"Well, it's a tie for know…" Nathan spoke to herself.

It took Nathan some time to think of the tiebreaker of the pros and cons contest until he thought of a pro: It was better being with a friend than being alone.

"Let's go." Nathan said to the mask.

"Should…?" The mask started to ask, but saw that Nathan was planning to do what the mask was going to suggest: waking Crash.

"Wake up." Nathan said to the sleeping bandicoot, who did not move much.

"Wake up." Nathan said louder.

Crash slept on. Seeing no other way, Nathan cleared his throat, took a very deep breath, and yelled at the bandicoot.

"WAKE UP!"

"What the!?" Crash yelled on in fright.

"Good to see you up." Nathan said hoarsely.

"That yell was you?" The bandicoot asked the boy.

"So?" The human asked like a tough guy, despite the hoarse voice.

Crash laughed a little, which confused Nathan.

"What's so funny?"

"An hour ago, I tried to wake you up, but you didn't." The bandicoot answered between laughs.

"Really?" Nathan asked, blushing neon red.

"Yeah!" Crash confirmed, "Since I couldn't wake you up, I decided to take another nap."

Nathan, after hearing this story, started laughing out loud with Crash.

"Time to leave!" Aku-Aku hollered to the friends.

After hearing the announcement, Nathan and Crash calmed down, but they still had a laugh or two left between them.

"Come on." Nathan said.

"Yeah." Crash agreed.

The two climbed aboard the ship as they looked back.

"What an insane place." Nathan said to himself, shaking his head with a smile.

"Insane?" Crash asked Nathan.

"It means crazy." Nathan explained to Crash, which only upset the bandicoot.

"I know what 'insane' means." Crash responded hotly.

Nathan seemed to have ignored the bandicoot and started talking to Aku-Aku.

"Hey!" Crash yelled to the human.

"What!?" Nathan yelled back.

"Why did you ignore me like that?" The bandicoot asked, still upset at Nathan, who was shocked by his behavior.

"Sorry about that!"

Crash, seeing this as a misunderstanding, was very quick to smile.

"I should be the one sorry. What are you talking to Aku-Aku for?"

Nathan grinned and answered.

"I was asking him if the island had a name."

"Wow! Does it?" Crash asked.

"No." Nathan said.

"Got an idea for a name?"

Nathan grinned at his ally.

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Crash asked, curious about the name.

"N. Sanity Island." Nathan proclaimed.

"N. Sanity Island?" The bandicoot thought for a moment, before voicing his opinion about the name, "I like it."

Nathan laughed as the magic mask announced that they were leaving.

"Let's go." Crash grinned.

"Right." Nathan agreed as they set sail.

Aku-Aku came to the duo and asked, "Have you given the island a name yet?"

Crash and Nathan looked at each other and grinned as they replied to the mask.

"N. Sanity Island."

Then, the trio looked on at the island until it was out of sight.


	5. Chapter 5

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Five

It took a few hours for the ancient boat reach the next island. Nathan and Crash were asleep when the ship arrived, and Aku-Aku watched the allies throughout the night. By the night morning, Nathan and Crash woke up and saw that they were on another island.

"We're here!" Crash yelled, excited about being closer to his goal.

"And here is…?" Nathan asked, not very sure that the group was on the right island.

"Wumpa Island." Aku-Aku finished the human's sentence.

"Wumpa Island?" Crash asked.

"The last island didn't have a name, and it had natives on it, but this island has a name?" Nathan asked the mask.

"There were natives here before Cortex scared them to N. Sanity Island." Aku-Aku replied, slightly upset at Nathan.

Nathan became shocked, but it was not the mask's reaction.

"Cortex!?" The boy yelled.

"You know Cortex?" Crash asked with concern boiling in his being.

"Yes." Nathan said, "And we have to stop him!"

"Yeah!" Crash said, also determined to stop Cortex.

The two started racing off into the jungle, but they returned to the beach when they realized something: how were they going to get to Cortex's castle without a boat?

"How could we forget about the boat?" Nathan said.

"Yeah, and the boat forgot us." Crash said.

"Huh?" Nathan asked and looked where they left the boat and saw that the boat was missing. Nathan looked at Crash, hoping for an answer, but the bandicoot shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

"What?" Crash asked Nathan.

Nathan shook his head and said, "Never mind."

"Back so soon?" Aku-Aku said, appearing out of nowhere.

The sudden appearance of the mask startled the two allies, and causing them to scream.

"Don't do that!" Nathan said, angry at the mask.

"Yeah!" Crash agreed with fright in his eyes.

"I am sorry about frightening you," Aku-Aku said, "but I thought you two were going through the island; I did not think of the two of you returning for the boat."

Crash was about to talk to the mask when Nathan spoke first.

"You know where the boat's at?"

"Yes." The mask answered sheepishly.

"Where?" Nathan asked again.

"The boat is on the other side of the island." Aku-Aku admitted.

Shocked by the news, Crash and Nathan looked at each other, and then returned their gaze back to the mask, only to scream, "WHAT!"

"The boat is on the…" The mask attempted to repeat himself when Nathan spoke again in a calmer tone of voice.

"I heard what you meant, but why?"

"I can only take items and people I truly trust."

"You don't trust us?" Crash asked, hurt by the mask's distrust.

"Not really, but I still have some doubts about you two." Aku-Aku admitted.

"About?" Nathan asked.

"A few things." Aku-Aku said.

"What things?" Crash asked.

"Just a few things."

Crash was about to talk when Nathan stopped him.

"Never mind."

Crash shrugged his shoulders and turned to Aku-Aku.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Between here and the other side of the island, there are the temple ruins and some man-made caves." The mask said.

"Man-made caves?" Crash asked.

"The safe bet is that those 'man-made caves' are really mines." Nathan said.

"Mines?" Crash asked Nathan.

"Caves, that people make, are used to find an abundance of something." The human explained to the bandicoot.

"Really?" Crash asked, "What is Cortex looking for?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Nathan said.

Nathan started walking into the jungle. It took Crash a few moments to realize that Nathan is going to the other side of the island.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Crash yelled, chasing after Nathan into the jungle.

The ancient mask gave out a sigh and said, "This might take some time before we find the way to the boat."

With this in mind, Aku-Aku followed the duo into the jungle.


	6. Chapter 6

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Six

It had been five hours since the group started their adventure on Wumpa Island. Nathan and Crash, whom were very excited and determined to get to the boat at first, were starting to lose their confidence and hope.

"How long until we reach the boat?" Crash whined out of exhaustion.

Nathan, who was tired himself, answered almost breathlessly, "We're not even close to the middle part of the island."

"Really!?" The bandicoot yelled in shock.

"Really." Nathan said, just as breathlessly and very annoyed.

"Crash," Aku-Aku spoke out, "now is not the time to complain."

"But I'm tired, and I wanna take a nap!" Crash whined out.

"Well, here's some good news." Nathan announced, "The ruins are near."

"Really!?" Crash repeated his last question with great joy.

"Yeah. So, get up," Nathan said, picking up the evolved bandicoot to his feet, "and get going."

* * *

A few minutes later, Crash, Nathan and Aku-Aku were at the ruin of an ancient temple and resting.

"Finally!" Crash sighed in relief.

"Yeah!" Nathan agreed, taking deep breaths.

"Take some time to rest." Aku-Aku said, "You will need your strength for the rest of the ruins."

Crash and Nathan groaned; Crash wanted to take a long nap, and so did Nathan, but time being of the essence, they did not have a long time to rest.

"How about a short nap?" Nathan asked his bandicoot companion.

"Yeah!" Crash grinned, liking the idea.

Aku-Aku moved like a person shaking their head in annoyance at the sight of the allies taking a nap, but he accepted the fact that the nap may be more beneficial than just sitting down and catching their breath.

"Have a good rest." The mask said as the two friends dozed off.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Nathan woke from his nap.

"That was nice!" The boy yawned as he stretched his body.

Then, he heard something strange: a maniacal laughter.

"What the?" Nathan asked himself.

The laughter was far away by the sound of the echoes, but Nathan guessed that the source of the laughter was at the ruins.

"That's not something I should be hearing." The human said to himself.

Nathan stood up and looked at Crash, who was still asleep.

"I can't wake Crash up yet." Nathan said as he got up and started into the ruins.

"Crash!" Aku-Aku flew to the sleeping mammal.

The bandicoot stirred in his sleep.

"Wake up!" Aku-Aku yelled.

Still, Crash would not wake up.

The mask took a deep breath and yelled out very loudly, "WAKE UP!"

That woke Crash up in fright.

"Who?! What?! Where!?"

"Crash, calm down!" Aku-Aku said in his usually tone of voice.

"Oh! It's you, Aku-Aku." Crash said, relieved of the fright.

"Crash, Nathan's in terrible trouble!" The mask informed the bandicoot.

"What's happened?" Crash quickly demanded the magic mask.

"There's no time to explain!" Aku-Aku said, "We need to go now!"

Crash dashed off before Aku-Aku had the chance to help Crash get to Nathan.

"Crash!" The mask yelled, following the bandicoot.

* * *

Nathan was in deep trouble; he was trying to avoid the sharp toenails of a blue kangaroo in a white straitjacket, while trying to avoid falling into the water, which lead to a waterfall.

"Whoa!"

Another close call to Nathan, but he knew he could not avoid the attacks for very long. The kangaroo was fast and powerful. Then, Nathan was hit in the arm, and the wound was bleeding. Both knowing of the cuts and feeling it, Nathan cursed under his breath as he avoided another attack.

"Damn!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Crash and Aku-Aku came to the area of the ruins where Nathan was.

"Look!" Aku-Aku yelled.

Crash looked and saw Nathan jumping out of the run of the blue kangaroo's attacks and realized the kangaroo.

"It's Ripper Roo!" The bandicoot yelled.

"You know that creature!?" The mask asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Crash answered.

Crash knew Ripper Roo: The kangaroo was the first experiment of the Cortex Vortex, which caused him to lose his sanity. Ripper Roo had to be locked up in a cage and put into a straitjacket to keep him from harming others and himself.

"Can we stop him?" The mask asked.

"I'm going to find out!" Crash said, running into the fight.

Aku-Aku chased after Crash, who was not going to allow Ripper Roo to harm his friend.

"Hey, Ripper!" The bandicoot yelled to the kangaroo.

The kangaroo heard the yell, turned around and saw Crash with it's yellow, swirling eyes.

"Crash Bandicoot!" The kangaroo said in a high-pitched voice, "I've been waiting to see you again."

Crash did not like to hear that statement.

"What does he mean?" Aku-Aku asked, curious about what Ripper Roo said.

"He means that he's going to try to kill me." Crash admitted.

"Why?" The mask inquired.

"He wants to kill everyone!" The bandicoot answered annoyed at the mask's questions.

"Look out!" Aku-Aku yelled, seeing Ripper Roo bouncing towards them.

Crash looked and dodged quickly. Seeing the crazy kangaroo, Crash knew that he did not have a long time before Ripper Roo turned him into a mass of fleshy and furry ribbons, and he knew that he needed a plan and fast. Then, Crash saw the waterfall nearby and had an idea, but he had to dodge a few of Ripper Roo's attacks.

"Hey, can't you do better than that?" Crash yelled at the kangaroo.

The insane mammal laughed out, "You really want to die, do you?"

"Find out!" Crash countered.

The kangaroo jumped and tried to scratch Crash. The bandicoot rolled away from Ripper Roo and was behind him.

"Gotcha!" Crash said.

Ripper Roo turned around only to be met and hit by a small, orange tornado, being thrown into the river. He floated to the waterfall without resistance and fall to the body of water that the waterfall ended.

"That was close!" Crash sighed in relieve, but then he remembered Nathan and Aku-Aku and ran to them, but he waded the river first. By the time Crash reached his two allies, a smiling Nathan greeted him.

"Hi."

"Nathan, you all right?" Crash asked.

"All better, thanks to Aku-Aku." Nathan replied.

The bandicoot looked at the mask, who smiled kindly.

"It was no great deal; I just healed his wounds inflicted by Ripper Roo."

"Wow!" The bandicoot exclaimed in amazement, "I'm glad you're on our side!"

"Me too!" Nathan grinned in agreement.

* * *

On Cortex Island, Neo Cortex was spying on the trio.

"Curses!" The man raged.

"Doc-Doc-Doctor Cortex?" Brio asked, fearing Cortex's rage.

The little, yellow man growled in fury as he spoke.

"Crash Bandicoot is still alive!"

"Is-Is-Is that it?" Brio asked, stepping back a little from Cortex.

"And worse, he just defeated Ripper Roo!" Cortex roared, slamming his fist onto the table behind him.

Brio did not ask again; he was busy trying to hide from Cortex. The yellow man was about to yelled in fury again when he remembered something.

"Of course!"

Then, Cortex grinned evilly.

"Even Crash could not use his strength against _him_."

* * *

Back on Wumpa Island, Crash, Nathan, and Aku-Aku exited the ruins, but not before escaping the traps in the ruins. Crash was covered with scrapes and cuts, while Nathan was unharmed.

"Who knew that temple ruins would have booby traps?" Crash asked as Aku-Aku, who was using a glowing power to heal the bandicoot.

"I would've told you, but you didn't ask." Nathan replied.

Crash growled in fury at the human.

"I did!" The bandicoot yelled at Nathan.

"And I told you, but you were running off in the middle of my warnings." Nathan countered.

"Enough!" Aku-Aku yelled, ceasing the bickering duo's argument, "This is no time to be fighting each other."

The human and the bandicoot looked at each other again, grinned, and nodded in agreement.

"Aku-Aku's right!" Nathan said.

"Yeah. Who knows if we have any more opponents to fight?" Crash said.

"Hey, Aku-Aku?" Nathan asked the mask.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you done healing Crash?"

"Oh, dear!" Aku-Aku exclaimed and he started healing Crash again.

Once Aku-Aku finished healing Crash, the trio started off towards the boat that would take them to Cortex Island.


	7. Chapter 7

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Seven

The trio traveled for two hours, when suggested something.

"How about a race, Crash?"

"What a 'race?'" The bandicoot said.

Nathan was shocked, but did his best to hide his emotion as he answered.

"A race is when two or more people run through a path or a course to see who is the fastest."

"Wow! I'm going to try that when I free Coco." Crash announced.

"Coco?" Nathan asked.

"I thought you were returning to Cortex Island for Tawna." Aku-Aku said.

"Well, I am, because Cortex is going to use the Cortex Vortex on her." Crash answered, "But I also have to save my sister."

"Your sister? Coco?" Nathan asked.

Crash smiled and said, "Yep."

"How about we do that race, so you can show your sister how it's done?" The human offered.

"Sure!" Crash said, getting Nathan a thumbs-up.

"Cool!" Nathan grinned, "But there are rules."

"Rules?" Crash inquired.

"Yeah, it's to make the race more interesting." The human said.

"Okay." Crash replied, "What are they?"

"First one to the boat wins." Nathan simply said.

"All right." Crash grinned confidently.

"Aku-Aku, will you start the race?" Nathan turned to the mask.

"I would, but I do not know how." Aku-Aku confessed.

"Just say, 'Ready? Set? Go!'" The human explained.

"Thank you for the explanation." The mask smiled.

"Get ready to run, Crash." Nathan announced to the bandicoot.

"You're on!" Crash grinned.

Nathan prepared to run, and Crash mimicked the human, as Aku-Aku yelled out, "Ready? Set? Go!"

Nathan ran off first. Crash followed after a moment of confusion.

"What's da matter, Crash? Tired all ready?" Nathan taunted playfully.

"No way!" Crash replied.

The two raced on. Nathan was in the lead, when he heard a scream.

"HEEYYY!"

Nathan stopped and turned around.

"Crash?" The boy asked, not seeing his friend.

Nathan ran back, when Aku-Aku yelled to Nathan.

"Stop!"

Nathan obeyed and stopped.

"That was close." Nathan said, staring down a giant hole in the ground.

* * *

Crash was dazed from his fall, but he regained himself quickly.

"Hey! Are you all right!?"

"Huh?" Crash asked, "Nathan!?"

"Yeah!" Nathan answered.

"Good!" Nathan replied, "I'm gonna find a way out for ya!"

"Well, I'm not gonna sit here!" The bandicoot yelled.

A few moments passed before Nathan answered.

"Fair enough! I'll see ya soon!"

Crash smiled, imaging the human speaking to him to person.

"See ya!" The bandicoot yelled before running into the unknown.

Nathan was worried, and it covered his face.

"See ya!" Crash yelled.

* * *

Nathan didn't speak; he knew Crash could protect himself.

"Nathan?"

The boy awakened from his trance of concern.

"Yes?"

"You looked worried, Nathan." Aku-Aku pointed out.

"I am, Aku-Aku. I am." Nathan said, showing his tears of concern to his only friend.

* * *

Crash explored the cave until he felt heat hit his fur.

"Heat?"

Crash walked a few more steps before he saw a gleam of light.

"A light? No! Red light!"

The bandicoot ran towards the light and found himself staring at a river of lava!

"Whoa!"

Crash's shock was great, but it didn't stop him from looking around.

"Let's see: metal things are here, so this must be the 'mine' that Nathan mentioned earlier." Crash assumed.

Then, out of nowhere, a giant boulder flew at the bandicoot. Crash saw it and managed to dodge the boulder, but it was by inches.

"Whoa!" Crash exclaimed, shaken at the thought of almost being crunched by the boulder.

"Crash!"

Crash turned to the river of lava and saw the other side of the river and the humanoid koala there.

"Koala Kong!?" Crash exclaimed at the sight of the marsupial.

"Right!" The muscle-bound koala replied.

Crash was upset at the state of the koala; Kong was smart before being an experiment of the Cortex Vortex, like Ripper Roo was sane before the Cortex Vortex experiment.

"You're going down!" Crash announced, trying to fuel the koala's anger.

"Me strong, you weak!" The koala yelled with a nasty grin on his face.

Then, Koala Kong picked up another boulder with little effort and threw it at Crash. The bandicoot dodged the boulder, but the pieces flew at Crash's back and legs, which was painful.

"OW!" Crash yelled.

Koala Kong laughed at the bandicoot, as Crash was in pain.

"You weak!"

"No, me not weak," Crash mocked, "you dumb."

This enraged the koala, who picked up another boulder.

"Me crush you!"

"I like to see you try!" Crash taunted.

Koala Kong threw the boulder, but Crash did not run away, but he spun around. The tornado that formed around Crash changed the direction of the boulder from Crash's body to Koala Kong.

Kong, who saw this, only said one statement: "This gonna hurt."

The boulder hit Koala Kong and knocked him down to the ground and out of conciseness.

"Ow!" Crash exclaimed after seeing the impact, "He's really gonna to feel that in the morning!"

With that said, Crash ran off to find a way out of the mines.

* * *

Nathan was searching for a cave to the underground of the island with Aku-Aku, who was very calm.

"I hope Crash is all right." Nathan said to himself, somewhat forgetting the mask was with him.

"He is." Aku-Aku said, trying to calm the boy, but it was in vain.

Nathan ignored the magical mask and continued his search until he found a cave.

"Found a cave!" Nathan announced.

"I know." Aku-Aku said.

Nathan whipped his head around and looked at the mask.

"And you didn't tell me!?" Nathan yelled.

"Well, you did not ask." Aku-Aku replied, which caused Nathan to feel very embarrassed and very ridiculous.

"I'm sorry." Nathan said, filled with regret about his inappropriate behavior, "But I'm worried about Crash."

"You do not have to; he is in that cave." The mask said.

Hearing this, Nathan looked up, turned to the opening of the cave and went to it.

"Crash!? Are you there!?" Nathan yelled.

He was answered by a flock of bats flying at him, having been disturbed from their daytime slumber.

"Whoa!" Nathan exclaimed as he ducked from the bats and did not get up until the bats were gone.

"That's a dumb thing to do, Nathan."

The boy looked up and saw his friend.

"Crash!" Nathan exclaimed in relief.

"That's me!" The bandicoot grinned.

"What happened while you were down there?" Aku-Aku asked Crash.

Crash smiled before telling Nathan and Aku-Aku about his small adventure in the mines and his battle against Koala Kong.

"Wow! It's a true wonder that you're still alive." Nathan said after hearing the story.

"Yeah!" Crash agreed as he got to his feet, "But there's still one thing left."

"And what's that?" Nathan inquired.

"Beating you in a race!" The bandicoot smiled mischievously.

Nathan got up quickly and replied, "You're on!"

Then, the two raced off to the boat.

* * *

Once at the boat, Crash had lost the race, but accused Nathan of cheating.

"I do not trip you!"

"Then how did I trip?"

"Because your shoelaces are untied."

"Don't try to pull anything on me! You might be smarter than me doesn't mean that you're going to trick me." Crash announced.

"But I'm not!" Nathan countered, "Your shoelaces are untied!"

"I don't know what shoelace are!" Crash countered smugly.

"Nathan, what are shoelaces?" Aku-Aku asked, upset about the meaningless argument.

"Shoelaces are strings that one would use to tie their shoes to keep them on their feet." Nathan explained with eagerness.

Crash heard this and looked at his shoes, which were untied, just as Nathan claimed. Blushing with shame because of his behavior, Crash walked to Nathan and said, "I'm sorry."

"That's all right," said Nathan, "I'll show you how to tie them, if you want."

Crash smiled at the human, who showed no fury to the bandicoot.

"Come on, we have a boat to sail." Aku-Aku said, going to the ship.

"And a mad doctor to stop." Crash added.

The trio entered the boat and set sail for Cortex Island.

* * *

In the laboratory on Cortex Island, Neo Cortex had learned that Koala Kong failed.

"That moron lost!?" Cortex screeched at Brio.

"Y-y-yes." Brio answered.

In a fit of fury, Cortex started throwing test tubes and flasks at anything and everything, including Brio! But, Brio managed to dodge all of the projectiles that were thrown at him. Cortex, then, brought out his laser gun and was ready to fire it, but he did not. Brio looked at Cortex, who by then had an evil smile on his breaded face.

"Doc-doc-doctor?" Brio asked.

"I forgot about him." Cortex chuckled, still looking at his gun.

"Oh-oh-oh, dear." Brio stuttered in fear.

Cortex, however, was filled with a joy towards his 'genius' as he ran to the telephone. The yellow-skinned man dialed a number and waited until…

"_Hello?"_

Cortex grinned before he answered.

"Hello, Pinstripe."


	8. Chapter 8

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Eight

It took the reminder of the day and the night until Crash, Nathan, and Aku-Aku reached Cortex Island. The first glow of the sunrise landed on Nathan, waking him.

"Hm?" The human opened an eye and saw that he was in the boat. So, he sat up and stretched his body, because he had slept on the wooden deck of the boat.

"But Tawna…" Crash mumbled in his sleep, followed by a snore.

Nathan saw this and laughed a little. Then, he saw Aku-Aku, who seemed to have been awake for the entire night.

"Morning!" Nathan greeted, but the mask did not respond.

"Aku-Aku?"

No response. Slightly upset about being ignored, Nathan yelled at the mask, but the only thing that he heard from Aku-Aku was a snore.

"Oops!" The boy exclaimed.

"Boo!" Aku-Aku screamed, causing Nathan to fall down in fright.

"Wha!" Crash exclaimed, hearing Nathan's fall onto the boat.

"Oops!" The mask said, "I am sorry. I was trying to make a joke."

"A joke!" Nathan exclaimed at the mask.

"I am sorry." Aku-Aku repeated.

Nathan sighed deeply and said, "Never mind."

"Hey!" Yelled Crash, "There's Cortex Island!"

* * *

Once on the island, the trio started talking about their plan.

"How do we enter the castle?" Aku-Aku asked Crash.

"That's a good question." Nathan committed.

"Maybe though the window." Crash suggested.

"The window?" Nathan asked, "Is there a security system in the castle?"

Crash paused for a moment before answering Nathan.

"Yes, there is."

"Is there any power sources?" The human asked the bandicoot.

"Well," answered Crash, "there is a power station."

"A power station?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah." Crash confirmed.

Nathan looked at the castle and thought that the castle would have needed an abundant amount of energy to power the castle, and the power station probably does not have enough energy to do the job. But the power station was in best place to start looking for an entrance.

"Crash?" The boy asked.

"Yeah?" The bandicoot responded.

"Where's the station?"

"Here it is!" Crash announced, which was not needed, since the power station had a sign that says, 'Cortex Power Station.'

Nathan ignored the announcement and said, "Let's go in."

"Wait!" Aku-Aku said.

"What is it?" Crash asked the mask.

"Is there any protection in the station?" Aku-Aku asked.

"There are supposed to be guards and guns in there." Crash replied, which caused Nathan to feel uneasy about the power station.

"Excuse me?" A small voice asked the trio.

The three turned to the direction of the vice and saw a small, female, humanoid bandicoot with blonde hair in a ponytail hairstyle and wearing a white T-shirt, a pair of coveralls, a metal bracelet, and pink tennis shoes.

"Coco!" Crash exclaimed in joy as he ran to the she-bandicoot and embraced her.

Coco returned the hug as she said, "Crash, I missed you!" Her voice was muffled in Crash's fur.

"I missed you too." Crash said, tightening his embrace.

"So, this is Coco." Nathan said, causing the siblings to look at him.

"Who's that?" Coco said, frightened by Nathan's forwardness and pulling herself closer to her brother.

"Don't worry about him; he's a friend of mine." Crash replied, smiling at Nathan.

Coco looked at Nathan and said, "You look like him."

Nathan stepped back a bit, hoping that she has mistaken him for someone outside of his family.

"He does," said Crash, still holding his sister, "but he's good."

Coco looked up at her brother and saw that he was telling the truth. Seeing this, she grinned at Crash, and then Nathan, who smiled kindly at her.

"May I ask a question?" Nathan asked Coco.

"Sure." The she-bandicoot replied.

Nathan looked at the power station, and then back to Coco and asked, "Is there any way into the power station without getting hurt or killed?"

"There is." Coco said bluntly.

Nathan saw immediately that Coco wanted something as well.

"For what?"

Coco was a little shocked about Nathan's guess, but she grinned upon seeing that Nathan was smarter than he looked.

"There is a condition that I do want." Coco confessed, "Can you get us off the island?"

Nathan became very concern and turned to Crash, who answered.

"Cortex wants us to help him take over the world as commandos."

"Okay." Nathan said, "I get it now."

Coco looked at the human and asked, "Are you going to help us?"

"Sure." Nathan said, "But we still need a way into the power station with little to no harm to us."

Coco looked around to make sure no one else was watching her before she spoke to Nathan.

"Okay, there's a way to Pinstripe's office; it's just down the hall and behind the stairs. That's the broom closet. That's where the air vent is at."

"The air vent?" Crash and Aku-Aku asked Coco in unison.

"Yes; it's the only way to get around without getting noticed." The she-bandicoot confessed, "But it tends to be noisy in there, so go slowly."

"Thanks." Nathan said.

Crash started to the station, but Coco grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back, which caused the brother to fall down to his backside.

"Whoa!" Nathan exclaimed meekly, impressed by Coco's strength, "Strong kid."

"Ow!" Crash responded in pain.

Nathan turned to the mask and said, "Can you get Coco off of the island with her friends?"

"Of course." The mask responded, "I would be more than happy to help."

"But there's another problem." Coco admitted, showing the bracelet on her wrist.

"Aww! I forgot about those stupid things!" Crash exclaimed as he placed his hand over his eyes.

"You're telling that the bracelets are boots?" Nathan asked Crash.

"Boots?" Crash asked.

"Security boots, or in your case, bracelets, are used to keep an eye on anyone, who is not suppose to leave a certain area." Nathan explained as he examined Coco's bracelet.

"Oh!" Crash said, realizing why Cortex made all of the animals that he evolved wear the heavy bracelets. Then, he looked at his own wrist and saw the vanishing mark that his security bracelet left, and he became thankful that Cortex removed his bracelet before putting him onto the Cortex Vortex.

"It looks like Coco can't escape with the power station still on." Nathan announced to the group.

"Or we can't get into the castle." Crash added.

Coco was looking at Crash and Nathan as if they had lost their minds.

"Are you guys crazy?"

"Maybe." Nathan replied, "But how are we going to stop Cortex from taking over the world, or harming other animals?"

Coco was shocked, but she could see that Nathan was right.

"Okay."

"But we have to be fast." Nathan said.

"Why?" Crash asked.

"Because the sooner we go in and turn off the power station, the sooner Coco can leave the island and we can sneak into the castle." The human explained.

"Oh, right." The bandicoot agreed.

Then, the two friends ran to the power station, leaving Aku-Aku and Coco, who gave a small prayer to her brother: "Please, be safe."

* * *

Nathan and Crash was hiding near the entrance, while they waited for the guards, a pair of potorooes, to doze off.

"Great!" Nathan growled under his breath.

"What are we going to do?" Crash asked.

"I don't know," Nathan replied, "I need to think of a plan."

Nathan started thinking of a plan, and Crash looked around until he saw two rats, trying to 'creep' up behind the duo. Crash tried to warn Nathan, who told him not to bother him, of the rats, whom jumped on the duo, getting Nathan's attention. A small fight between Crash and Nathan and the rats, whom were defeated easily, began and ended quickly.

"I got an idea, Nathan." Crash said, pointing to the rats' clothes.

"I see where this is going." Nathan stated.

* * *

Dressed as the rats, Nathan and Crash managed to sneak pass the guards and managed to get into the broom closet.

"I can't believe that worked." Crash whispered to Nathan quietly.

Nathan removed his disguise as he said, "Quiet!"

Crash obeyed as he removed his disguise, when he heard something above him. Looking up, the bandicoot saw a camera.

"Uh, oh!"

Nathan heard this and looked up, seeing the camera as well.

"Uh, oh." Nathan said, agreeing with the bandicoot.

Then, the duo heard the sound of guns cocking. Without another thought, Crash and Nathan climbed the walls and entered the air vent as the guns fired at them for a few seconds.

"Think they're dead?" An idiotic voice asked.

"I don't think no one could be alive after that." Another voice, which was smooth, replied.

The door opened, revealing the destroyed closet with no signs of the intruding duo.

"Do you think they're in little pieces?" The first one asked again.

"Studdup!" The other replied.

* * *

Nathan and Crash crawled their way to the CEO's business room.

"Finally!" Nathan exclaimed as he and Crash exited out of the air vent.

"You can say that again." Crash replied, brushing the dust from his fur.

"I second that." An unknown voice spoke out form the chair behind the desk.

The two looked at the chair as it turned to reveal a potoroo wearing a suit, which was holding a Thomson gun in his hands.

"This doesn't look good." Crash somewhat whimpered to Nathan.

The potoroo laughed evilly before he spoke.

"Cortex said that you're dumb. I believe he underestimated you a little."

"Typical." Crash said, rolling his green eyes.

Nathan flinched when he heard 'Cortex', fearing the man that the potoroo mentioned, but he managed to ask.

"Who are you?"

The potoroo stood up with a nasty grin on his face before he answered.

"I'm Pinstripe Potoroo, and I'll be your host, if you play nice."

"Why do I not believe you…completely."? Nathan responded, glaring at the possible enemy.

Pinstripe grinned, showing his passion of guns by pulling a neckerchief and using it to polish the gun.

"Good point." Pinstripe said, returning the neckerchief to where he pulled it from, "You're a smart kid."

"Don't remind me." Nathan countered.

Pinstripe continued to grin as he commented to Nathan.

"I wouldn't if you were dead."

"I don't like the sound of that." Crash announced.

"Then, you'll really hate this." The potoroo replied, cocking his gun.

"Hit the dirt!" Nathan yelled, diving to the floor.

Crash became confused, but when the shots were fired, he followed Nathan's example and ducked out of the way of the bullets by hiding behind a bookcase.

"What's a madda, boys?" Pinstripe spoke over the gun's firing, "Scared of a few bullets?"

"Is he serious?" Nathan asked himself, still waiting for the right moment to counter.

Then, it came; the Thomson gun stopped firing due to a jam.

"Of all of the times…" Pinstripe started, but he never finished his statement, thanks to Nathan.

"Now, Crash!"

The bandicoot heard this and saw Nathan running towards Pinstripe to attack.

"Right behind you!" Crash agreed, and he started charging towards the potoroo as well.

Pinstripe looked up and he only said one thing before Nathan and Crash both punched him in the face.

"What!"

After the double punch, Pinstripe fell to the ground, but not before his index finger pulled the trigger of the Thomson gun once more. The bullet that was fired went through the window where the CEO could see the production of the pollution, and to the machinery, causing the end of the Cortex Power Station.

"Whoa!" Crash exclaimed in amazement at the sight.

"You can say that again." Nathan agreed, "Let's leave."

Crash nodded and followed his ally out of the office and of the power station.


	9. Chapter 9

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Nine

Nathan and Crash had been outside of the Cortex Power Station for a few hours when Crash noticed something ahead of them.

"There's the castle!" The bandicoot yelled, nearly causing ear damage to Nathan.

"Ouch!"

Crash realized what he did and started apologizing to his friend.

"It's all right, Crash." Nathan replied, still rubbing his ear, "I'll live."

Then, Crash grabbed Nathan by the arm and dragged the boy to where he fell from the castle, unknowing of the storm that was coming to the islands.

* * *

"Great idea, Crash!" Nathan yelled at the bandicoot as they climbed the wall of the castle in a thunderstorm.

"How was I supposed to know about an upcoming storm?" Crash yelled back.

"Good point." The human grumbled to himself.

Then, Crash tried to grab a stone, but it was slick with rain, causing Crash's hand to slip off.

"Whoa!"

Nathan looked up and saw his friend in trouble, so the human climbed as fast as he could to reach Crash and grabbed Crash's hand.

"Nathan!" The bandicoot exclaimed in shock and amazement.

"Come on!" Nathan said with a grin, "Time to go."

"Right!" Crash agreed before he continued climbing with his friend.

As they climbed, the duo saw the destroyed window that Crash went through.

"There it is!" The bandicoot yelled to Nathan.

The human yelled back.

"I know!"

* * *

When both friends entered the castle through the window, Nathan tried to dry himself, while Crash went off to look for Tawna.

"Tawna! Where are you!"

"Crash," Nathan said, trying to calm his friend, "she might not be here."

"But Nathan, she's in danger! Cortex is going to put her in the Cortex Vortex."

"Crash," Nathan said slowly, "He just closed the Cortex Power Station. Cortex either had already used the Vortex, or he was too late to do it to her when we did turn off the power station."

"Oh!" Crash said, "But what if he did?"

Nathan thought for a second and said, "I will do everything in my power to help you change her back to her normal self."

"Really?" The bandicoot asked, hopefully about the word of his ally.

"I promise." Nathan said, raising his pinky to Crash, confusing the bandicoot. Seeing this, Nathan said, "It's a pinky swear, a promise between friends."

"Oh!" Crash exclaimed, "How do you do this?"

"You just grab a pinky finger with yours, and you agree to the promise." The human explained.

"Okay." Crash said, following Nathan's explanation. Once done, the bandicoot asked, "Promise to help change Tawna back to normal?"

"If she's being brainwash." Nathan said, agreeing to the promise.

"Thanks." Crash smiled, feeling very calm.

"Don't worry about it." The human said, also smiling.

* * *

The duo looked all over the lab for Tawna or Cortex, but it was in vain.

"It's no use." Crash exclaimed in concern, "We'll never find Tawna!"

"Calm down." Nathan said, "We'll find her."

"N-n-not in here." A voice spoke out.

The two looked at the stairway, where the voice rang from, and saw Doctor Brio.

"Mister Brio?" Nathan asked.

"Nathan?" Brio asked, "I haven't seen you in years."

"And I haven't seen you just as long as well." Nathan replied.

"Huh?" Crash is very confused.

"Nathan and I are good friends." Brio explained to Crash, "He and I have been friends for years."

"Hey, does Nathan know Cortex?" Crash asked.

Nathan changed the subject by asking, "Why are you in our way?"

Brio was surprised, but when Nathan winked at him without Crash seeing it, Brio understood and answered strongly, "Under Cortex's orders." Then, Brio started throwing vials of chemicals at the duo.

"Dodge 'em!" Nathan yelled, running away with Crash from the vials, which exploded right behind the duo.

While Nathan and Crash ducked and dodged vials, Brio drank a green liquid, which turned him into a giant, green Hyde-version of himself.

Seeing this, Crash was very shocked, saying, "I didn't know he could do that!"

Nathan wanted to say, 'I did', but he knew that Crash would guess that he was related to Cortex as a family member.

But then, Brio returned to his real form and fell to the floor.

"That's it?" Crash asked very confused.

"I guess so." Nathan replied, "I'll go talk to him."

"Good idea." The bandicoot agreed, "I'll search the lab again."

As Crash followed his own plan, Nathan talked to Brio.

"You're all right?"

"Yes." The assistant said, still lying on the floor, "It's so good to see you again."

"Same here." Nathan agreed as he smiled.

"Nathan," Brio said, turning serious, "Your uncle is about to leave by blimp."

"Where is it?" The boy asked.

Then, a scream rang from the top of the castle.

"Never mind." Nathan said on a guess.

"Tawan!" Crash yelled, running up the stairs.

Nathan turned to Brio, who said, "He's going the correct way."

"Thanks!" Nathan said, and he ran after the bandicoot, leaving Brio to do what the assistant wanted to do: destroy the lab.


	10. Chapter 10

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Ten

The duo ran to the top of the tower and saw the two other islands that they had explored in the light of the setting sun.

"Whoa!" Nathan said in amazement at the sight, but Crash pulled Nathan back to reality when he started yelling for Tawna again.

"Tawna!"

"Crash!"

The both of them looked up and saw a dirigible with a 'N' on the side.

"Neo Cortex has outdone himself." Crash commented upon seeing the blimp.

"No kidding." Nathan said, agreeing with the bandicoot.

Then, Crash and Nathan saw a pelican that was twice the size of a normal human next to them. Nathan thought of a plan, but Crash started a conversation with the bird.

"Hi, Buddy."

The bird responded to the bandicoot as a human would to a friend.

"I did, but it was an accident." Crash said, "Hey! Know how to reach the blimp?"

The pelican cocked his head to the side, looking confused.

"The big thing in the sky." Crash explained.

The bird looked over Crash's shoulder and saw Nathan.

Crash responded to the action by saying, "Nathan's a good guy. I'll even promise that he won't hurt you or your friends."

The bird glared at Nathan for a moment before he nodded to Crash and spread out its wing to the duo.

"Buddy's allowing us to ride on him." Crash turned to the human.

"Really?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah." Crash replied, "Hop on."

"Okay." The human replied, very unsure.

Nathan climbed onto the bird after Crash, and the pelican flew off to the blimp.

* * *

Neo Cortex knew it was about time to change places, and he was resourceful enough to store energy from the blimp, just in case the power station failed or was disrupted by enemies. He had one experiment left, and she was very stubborn, even after sending Pinstripe to persuade her to follow him. Cortex cursed the day he chose her to be evolved as well as a few others.

"Doctor Cortex." The robotic voice of a lab assistant spoke, returning the scientist back to reality.

"Yes?"

The robots looked at their master.

"There is a bird heading towards the blimp." The robot said.

"Get an image on the screen." Cortex commanded.

In a second, an image of Crash and Nathan riding on the pelican.

"It's Crash Bandicoot, all right!" Cortex yelled out, "He's always talking to those stupid birds!" Then, the scientist saw Nathan and recognized who the boy was and said, "He is here!" Cortex turned to the robot assistants and said, "Make sure that the boy is not harmed, understood?"

"Yes, Doctor Cortex." The assistants responded.

* * *

Crash and Nathan landed on the blimp.

"Bye, Buddy! Say hi to the others for me!" Crash waved good-bye to his friend.

"Bye." Nathan said, hoping that the bird would not attack him.

"Now," Crash said, turning to Nathan, "To Tawna."

"But we need to find out where she is." Nathan pointed.

"We didn't need to know that on the islands." Crash countered.

"Good point." Nathan said.

The duo ran off to the entrance of the blimp, but they found the door locked.

"How are we gonna get in?" Crash asked, trying to open the door for the second time.

"Leave this to me." Nathan replied, pulling out a thin piece of metal.

The human placed the piece of metal into the lock and unlocked the door in a few seconds, which caused Crash to be very amazed.

"How did you do that!" The bandicoot asked, while Nathan put the piece of metal away.

"I learned it." Nathan said, "Now, let's go find Tawna."

"Hey! That's my line!" Crash exclaimed at Nathan.

"Then, be quicker next time." Nathan replied, entering the compartment that held people.

"Ha ha." Crash said flatly, following the human.

* * *

Once inside, the duo found Tawna, who was tied up with rope and gagged.

"Tawna!" Crash exclaimed as he ran to her and removed her gag.

"Crash!" Tawna exclaimed in joy with eyes coming out of her tears. Then, she saw Nathan and asked, "Who's the human? He looks like…"

"I know, but he isn't." Crash interrupted Tawna.

Nathan pulled out a pocketknife and cut the ropes that kept Tawna bound.

"That should do it." The human boy said, very pleased with himself for helping others.

"He's strange." Tawna whispered to Crash.

"So," Crash replied, "at least he's on our side."

"Look out!" The she-bandicoot yelled to the duo, pointing at what was behind them.

The duo looked behind them and saw the lab assistants running towards them.

"Lab assistants!" Crash exclaimed, "What are they doing here?"

"I'm guessing they're here to stop us." Nathan replied to Crash's question.

"I could've told you that!" Tawna pointed out.

"Anyway," Nathan said, "I got just the thing for these guys."

Then, the human pulled out a piece of metal that looked hollow and was curved at the bottom.

"What's that?" Crash's asked his friend.

"Something I've been tinkering with for a while." Nathan replied with a sly grin on his face.

Then, Nathan pointed the hollow part of the metal item, which fired yellow lasers at the robots, blasting them into pieces.

After the destruction, Crash could only say one word in his shocked state of mind.

"Whoa!"

Nathan heard this, and he smiled as his friend, pleased at himself.

"Thanks." The human said.

"I knew you were like him!" Tawna accused Nathan.

"Quit whining!" The boy silenced the she-bandicoot, "We need to get outta here!"

"Let's go, then!" Crash agreed, dragging Tawna by her hand and Nathan following both bandicoots.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cortex was watching the group and outraged by Nathan's destructive action to his lab assistants.

"Looks like I have to deal with this myself." The little man said as he stood up and started out of the control room.

* * *

In a few minutes, the trio managed to reach the door out of the blimp.

"We're gonna make it!" Crash cheered to Tawna and Nathan.

"Good to hear!" Nathan replied, smiling widely.

Crash stopped at the door, opened it, and exited to the outside. Nathan and Tawna were about to follow Crash's example, but the door quickly closed, separating Crash from the others.

"Crash!" Nathan and Tawna yelled in unison behind the locked door.

Crash turned around and saw the closed door. He ran to the door, when a bullet of green energy darted between the bandicoot and the door. Crash turned his attention to the direction where the shot came from and saw Neo Cortex, who was on a hover-board with a sick grin on his face and holding a ray gun in his hand.

"Cortex!" The bandicoot growled at the scientist; all that done was made his enemy laugh.

"Is that all?" Cortex asked mockingly.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Crash said, "Because to me, it means that we're gonna fight."

Cortex laughed as he said, "I noticed that you've made a new friend."

"Leave Nathan outta this!" Crash yelled at the little man, "He's got nothin' to do with this!"

"Silly bandicoot," Cortex mocked Crash, "Nathan is my nephew."

Crash's eyes grew wide in shock, when he grinned and chuckled to himself a little.

"What's so funny!" Cortex demanded to knew, growing furious at Crash.

"I'm laughing at myself." The bandicoot replied, confusing Cortex.

"What!" The little man said.

"I thought he was your son." Crash finished, laughing.

Cortex grew angry at the bandicoot for laughing and aimed his gun at Crash.

Noticing this action from the 'doctor', Crash got out of the way as the energy from the ray gun hit the blimp.

"Nice shot." Crash mocked Cortex.

"Hold still, you rodent!" Cortex yelled, firing his gun at Crash.

* * *

As the battle began, Nathan and Tawna noticed that the assistants were coming after them.

"Look out!" Tawna yelled.

But Nathan was ahead of the she-bandicoot's command. He pulled out weapon and shot down the androids.

"Wow!" An impressed Tawna said.

"Let's go find another exit!" Nathan announced, grabbing Tawna's wrist and dragged her from the door.

* * *

Back in the battle, Crash grew tired from dodging the shots, from Cortex's gun.

"Getting tired?" Cortex grinned evilly as he spoke.

" Yeah!" Crash responded, "I'm getting tired of seeing your face!"

Cortex's grin turned to a sneering frown, as if becoming animal-like.

"You'll pay for that remake!" Cortex roared as he resumed shooting at the bandicoot.

* * *

Nathan and Tawna made their way to the control room of the blimp.

"That was scary!" Tawna exclaimed loudly.

"You can say that again!" Nathan agreed with the she-bandicoot.

"Nathan?" Tawna asked, "Are you really Cortex's nephew?"

"Due to my misfortune." Nathan answered sadly.

Seeing this sadness in Nathan's eyes and hearing it in his answer, Tawna felt awful about the thoughts she had about him, thinking of him as an evil human, when he hated the very blood that flows in his and Neo Cortex's veins.

"I'm sorry, Nathan. I thought you were…"

Nathan raised his hand in front of Tawna, and he said, "It's not the first, and I truly believe it won't be the last."

Then, the human saw something that greatly surprised him.

"Tawna…?" Nathan started to ask, but Tawna saw the very same thing.

"I see it too." The she-bandicoot said, also shocked by the sight of the burning castle.

* * *

Crash still managed to dodge the shots, but he was becoming too tired to dodge them.

"Your time is up." Cortex grinned as he aimed at Crash for he thought would be the last time, which it was.

"I'm not running anymore." Crash whispered to himself, "I'm spinning!"

Cortex fried at the bandicoot, who spun around. When the shot reached Crash, it was deflected and returned to Cortex, destroying the hover-board and sending the evil man to his burning castle.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The scream rang out to Crash's ears as Cortex fell to, what Crash believed, his death.

"I can't believe what I've done." Crash said before passing out from exhaustion.


	11. Chapter 11

Crash Bandicoot

Retold by Mutitoon90

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Nathan and Tawna watched as Neo Cortex fell to the burning castle.

"Cortex is gone!" The she-bandicoot cheered loudly.

Nathan grinned as Tawna remembered that Nathan was a Cortex as well.

"Sorry."

"That's okay, Tawna," responded the human, "I prefer not to be a Cortex."

"Look!" The she-bandicoot yelled, pointing to the screen.

Nathan looked and saw Crash in more trouble, because lab assistants were surrounding the bandicoot hero. The boy thought quickly and saw the microphone, grabbed it, and yelled, "CRASH!" into it.

* * *

Crash woke up as he felt like he had been asleep for days, instead of seconds. He saw the assistants surround him.

"Great…" The bandicoot growled as he knew that he was really about to die.

"CRASH!"

Hearing this, Crash asked, "Nathan?"

He also saw that the assistants were distracted, so he took advantage of the situation and attacked the robots by spinning around like an orange, man-sized tornado, sending each of the assistants over the side of the dirigible until none were left.

"That…was…quick." Crash said before passing out again, falling off of the blimp.

* * *

"Crash!" Tawna yelled as she saw Crash enter an unwilling free-fall.

Nathan thought of one thing, and he yelled into the microphone again.

"Buddy! Save Crash!"

* * *

Outside, Crash continued to fall to the island, when a blue of white caught him. Once safe, Crash opened his eyes and asked, "Buddy?"

The pelican cawed as he continued to fly Crash back to the zeppelin.

Coco and the other evolved creatures, including the ones Crash defeated, and Brio, who jumped out of the same window Crash broke, reached Wumpa Island, due to Aku-Aku guiding them.

"Aku-Aku, where's Crash?" Coco asked the mask.

"I do not know." Aku-Aku replied.

Coco became deeply concerned about her brother.

"Look!" A rat yelled pointing up in the sky.

The people in the boat looked up and saw the blimp.

"It's Cortex's blimp!" A potoroo yelled.

A scream came, and many gasps followed.

"I thought Cortex was going to leave the islands!" One of the mice yelled.

"We're good as dead." Another bandicoot yelled.

"No," spoke the colorful mask, "we're good as free."

Coco saw Aku-Aku's grin.

"He's right!" The young she-bandicoot announced.

* * *

Once near the island, Nathan, Crash, and Tawna flew on Buddy to the ground to meet with the others.

"Crash!" Coco cried out, running to her brother and embracing him.

"Whoa!" The bandicoot yelled as Coco nearly running him over.

"That's one strong girl." Nathan replied upon seeing the embrace.

"Yeah!" Tawna agreed.

Brio stepped forward and greeted Nathan.

"Nathan, you're unharmed!" The helper exclaimed.

"It's good to see you too." Nathan smiled kindly.

"How do you two know each other?" Tawna asked.

"It's a long story, Tawna." Nathan said.

"But we have no time for that." Brio said.

"What?" Nathan asked, "We need the rest."

"No!" Brio yelled, which was a first for him in a long time.

"Brio…" Nathan started, seeing that Brio will not change his mind.

"But I'll be nice and let you say your good-byes." The scientist said.

"Thanks." Nathan said, smiling.

The boy went to the bandicoots.

"Well, I guess this is the end of the adventure." Nathan laughed nervously.

"Yeah." Crash agreed, acting nervous himself.

"I'm glad that I met you, Crash." Nathan confessed with a bittersweet smile on his face.

"Me too." Crash said, seeing Nathan's sadness, "Are you going to cry?"

"Maybe." Nathan laughed nervously.

"Crash, Nathan." Brio said, acting his usual meek self.

"Brio…" Nathan said, emotional about saying good-bye to his friend.

Brio pulled out a laptop and gave it to Coco.

"For me?" Coco asked, very shocked at the gift.

"That's right." Brio said, "You're a smart one, so you may need something to keep you from getting bored."

"Thank you, Brio!" Coco jumped, excited about her gift.

"I knew that you would like it." The man said with a smile.

"Hey!"

The group turned and saw Ripper Roo and Koala Kong walking up to the group.

Crash was ready to fight and said, "If you guys are…" but Crash was interrupted by Nathan, who said, "Wait! They're not here to fight."

"What!" Crash asked, confused.

"We are here to say 'thank you'."

The statement surprised Nathan and Crash.

"Who say that?" Crash asked Nathan.

"Don't ask me!" Nathan replied.

"I did." Ripper Roo said in a normal voice.

"You did?" Nathan asked, very shocked.

"Once I was free of Cortex's control, I was able to return to my normal self, although, it is still possible to lose my sanity for a small time." The blue kangaroo explained, clearing the confusion.

"Wow!" Crash said, while Nathan was not that amazed by the explanation.

"And the same thing happened to me." Koala Kong said.

Crash smiled sheepishly at giant mammal, remembering the battle and the conversation in it.

"Kong…" The bandicoot started, but Koala Kong stopped him.

"Don't worry about our 'talk'."

"Yeah." Nathan said to Crash.

Then, Coco noticed something: the other experiments were watching the events.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" The small bandicoot asked.

"No." The others answered bluntly.

"Why?"

"It's because that they just arrived her." Aku-Aku answered.

"Oh!" Coco said.

"Yeah." Nathan agreed. Then, he turned to his fellow human and asked, "Brio, can we do something for them, since we'll be leaving soon."

"I don't think it is possible." Brio replied.

Then, Crash went to Nathan.

"Hey, got room on the blimp?"

Nathan became confused at Crash's question.

"Why?"

"I'm not innocent anymore." Crash said, casting his eyes to his shoes.

"Crash?" Coco asked, "What are you taking about?"

Crash gave a sideway glance at his sister, unwilling to tell her why.

"Nathan!" Tawna yelled, "The battle!"

"The battle?" Coco asked.

"Well, Crash defeated Cortex." Tawna said.

Hearing this, Crash started dragging his feet to the blimp's ladder.

"Wait right there, Bandicoot!" The voice of Pinstripe rang out.

Nathan and Crash turned to the potoroo, who walked to the group.

"What did you want?" Crash asked Pinstripe.

Pinstripe looked at Tawna, who slightly recoiled in fright, before answering.

"Nothing." The potoroo answered.

Nathan and Crash looked at each other, knowing that Pinstripe was really lying, but they knew he had something to say.

"Then, why stop Crash?" Nathan asked.

"He's the alpha male here." Pinstripe replied.

"Excuse me?" Nathan said.

"I see." Brio said, thinking out loud.

"What are you talking about?" Nathan asked his old friend.

"Animals tend to elect leaders through fighting." Brio explained.

Nathan understood what Brio said.

"So, when Crash defeated my uncle, he became the leader?"

"That's right." Tawna confirmed.

Nathan was surprised that the animals, although evolved, still have their instincts of fighting.

"But that's just…just…"

"Barbaric?" Brio asked.

"Yeah." Nathan confirmed.

"To us, yes, but to them, it's a way of life." Brio explained, "Remember, Neo Cortex planned to use them in battles to take over the world."

"Oh, yeah." Nathan said, surprised.

"Yeah," Crash said, still upset, "but I still killed Cortex."

"So?" Pinstripe asked.

"'So'?" The bandicoot yelled, "I eat vegetables and fruit; I'm not suppose to kill anything, including humans!"

"I wouldn't be too worried, if I were you." Nathan said.

"What are ya talking about?" Crash demanded the young man.

Nathan laughed before he answered.

"My family is famed for surviving from deadly situations, like falling to their deaths. So, Neo Cortex will be back, sooner or later."

"So, there's a chance that I didn't kill him?" Crash asked in disbelief.

"More likely than any other family." Nathan replied with a slightly sheepish grin on his face.

"Wow!" Tawna said.

"That's some bad luck." Coco said.

"That depends who you are: you or Cortex." Nathan pointed out.

Several of the experiments saw what Nathan was saying and agreed with the human boy.

"Now is the time to go." Brio announced.

"Right." Nathan said.

Nathan turned to the bandicoots one more time and said one of the saddest words in the world.

"Good-bye."

"Bye, Nathan." Crash said, starting to cry.

Nathan laughed, although he started to cry too.

"You're leaking!" Crash pointed out.

"So are you." Nathan counted.

The friends laughed as they wiped the tears from their faces.

"I'll back soon." Nathan said before following Brio to the rope ladder.

"Bye!" Crash yelled at Nathan.

The experiments yelled good-byes and farewells to Nathan and Brio as they entered the blimp.

"Good-bye!" Brio shouted, which was rare for him.

Crash ran to the shore and waved at the departing blimp riders until it was out of sight.

"Crash."

The bandicoot turned around and saw Aku-Aku.

"Hey, there." Crash greeted.

"Let's go, Crash." The mask said.

"All right." Crash replied.

The two returned to the group to start plans on what to do next. As they walked, Crash knew that Nathan would return to the Wumpa Islands and turned around to the sunrise.

"You better come back soon, Nathan." Crash said under his breath before he turned around and returned to his fellow experiments, knowing this is only the start of many advertures.


End file.
